Theater: Alex Alpharaoh puts his own DACA story on stage

Jody Feinberg The Patriot Ledger

Wednesday

Nov 7, 2018 at 12:14 PM

At the start of his one-man show, Alex Alpharaoh makes a request to the audience: “See me in the fullness of my humanity.” Every person wants that of course, but Alpharaoh has struggled for this recognition throughout his life as an undocumented American.

“I’m fortunate to be able to tell my story and speak for the countless people who feel they don’t have a voice,” said Alpharaoh, 36, a playwright and actor whose mother brought him from Guatemala to Los Angeles at three months old. “I wrote the show as form of therapy to cope with the stress, and I believe it puts a human face on a very political issue.”

“WET: A DACAmented Journey,” which runs Nov. 8-25 at Emerson Paramount Center, received the 2018 Best Solo Performance award from the Los Angele Drama Critics Circle. Over ninety minutes alone on a near bare stage, Alpharaoh plays himself and 18 characters as he tells a chronological story that begins in childhood and ends in 2017 when he tries to return to the States after leaving for a month to see his dying grandfather in Guatemala.

“I had no guarantee that I would be able to return and was terrified that I wouldn’t see my daughter again,” said Alpharaoh, who was about to fly back when President Donald Trump issued an executive order banning travel by people from certain countries.

Briefly, Alpharaoh experienced freedom from worry and a path toward citizenship after former President Obama created DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) in 2013 and before Trump revoked it in 2016. He rejoiced when he registered for DACA and, within two months of getting a work permit, he got an apartment and a hospice care job where he could use his training in psychology and skill with vulnerable people.

“When my mother told me my work permit arrived, I didn’t quite believe it,” he said. “I just kept staring at it and felt like it was the beginning of my life. It’s always been my understanding that being in this country is a privilege, and I’ve spent years and thousands of dollars trying to be here legally.”

When Alpharaoh was 18, he realized for the first time the limitations of being undocumented. He couldn’t rent an apartment, get a driver’s license, access public scholarships or any public benefits, establish a credit history or get a legal job. Although he went to college on a private scholarship and got an entry level job in a nursing home, he knew he couldn’t fulfill the advice of his father to make the most of opportunities in the United States. And he knew he could make no mistakes that would call attention to him.

“Any undocumented person can be detained and deported,” said Alpharaoh, who is the only person in his family whose legal status puts him at risk, since his mother has been a citizen she remarried after his father died when he was 15. “All they need to do is arrest me for a suspicion of a crime and hold me indefinitely and revoke my status.”

Given that, Alpharaoh potentially endangers himself by taking the stage, as he has done for the past two months on a national tour. Yet, he is buoyed by the connections he has made with people, even some who vocally disapprove of him.

“In Hartford, a woman at the Q&A called me an illegal, accused me of using public benefits and blamed my mother for bringing me here,” he said. “She said a lot of hurtful things, and I wanted to defend myself, but I heard her and acknowledged her. It was an uncomfortable, painful conversation, but that’s what this piece is about. Regardless of what people think, the fact that they show up affirms to me the importance of telling my story.”

And gratifyingly, the woman actually returned with a friend to see the show again and said she now was “on the fence” about immigration policy, he said.

While anti-immigrant sentiment is a key factor in support for the president and Republicans, Alpharaoh said his experience performing throughout the country has given him hope.

“I’ve met wonderful people of different races, creeds, religions and sexual orientation,” he said. “It’s a reminder of why I love the U.S. and why I believe in it.”

Reach Jody Feinberg at jfeinberg@patriotledger.com. Follow her on Twitter@JodyF_Ledger.